In the midst of the worst recession our country has experienced, a group of developers moved forward with plans to create an upscale new community in the northwest area of Escambia County near the Navy Federal campus. Widely panned as doomed from the start, the community is now regarded as the crown jewel in a rapidly growing part of town.
Homes located in Nature Trail are surrounded by nearly 750 acres of naturally wooded land that was previously a portion of the Tree Farm Plantation. 450 acres within Nature Trail is managed in conjunction with the Nature Trail Conservancy. The Nature Trail Conservancy Trust is a non-profit organization that was established to ensure the preservation of the land. Homes and lots in Nature Trail are subject to a sales transfer fee that is used to fund the Trust. The Trust promotes land stewardship to perpetuate the environment integrity that the developers of Nature Trail originally envisioned.
In the years since Nature Trail was established many other subdivisions have taken root in the Greater Beulah area. Communities such as Huntington Creek, Quail Ridge, Jaxson Estates, Upland Woods, and Woodlyn Meadows have joined others in the area that offer new homes priced from the $150,000 range to over $600,000. The area has become a mecca for new construction.
Plans to build an elementary and middle school in the central part of the county have been implemented to accommodate the growth. The new elementary school will be constructed adjacent to Ransom Middle School and will hold 800 students.
The planned construction of a middle school is slated to have a capacity of 1,100 to 1,300 students. Escambia County plans to relocate students from Woodham Middle and to rezone other students from Ransom Middle to the new middle school.
Local Option Sales Tax money is being used to fund the project which is scheduled to be ready by the 2018-2019 school year.
Much of the growth in this part of the county is a result of the expansion of the Navy Federal Credit Union. Already one of the largest employers in the greater Pensacola/Escambia County metro area, Navy Federal continues to grow. The Nine Mile Campus has experienced rapid expansion that spurred the Florida Department of Transportation to widen Nine Mile Road.
The area housing Nature Trail, Navy Federal and other upcoming communities are conveniently located off of Nine Mile Road and offer easy access to grocery stores, shopping, the mall, hospitals, downtown Pensacola and Pensacola International Airport.
